thin slicing detroit metal city
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Tagged: detroit metal city
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Where foul language and death metal become a Ben Stiller-esque comedy.
I think in 30 minutes of Detroit Metal City, I’ve heard the words “rape” at least 100 times and “wet” used in a sexual sense a good fifty. And then toss in constant references to sexual acts… well… no, it’s not a hentai OVA. It’s a comedy. The setup of Detroit Metal City is overmatched musician Negishi somehow landed a job as Krauser II, the lead guitarist for the death metal band Detroit Metal City (DMC). Unfortunately, Negishi isn’t a fan of music with lyrics like “Raping everything in my path, I am the demon king!” and leans more towards music like Jewel and Hootie and the Blowfish. (Who will saaaave your souuuuul?) But he begrudgingly took on Krauser’s role because he needs to make ends meet, and he’s so damn good at being Krauser.
And that’s where the hilarity starts. Negishi can’t shake his Krauser image, both in the public’s eye as well as in his subconscious, and his “Rape and Kill” persona comes out at the most inopportune time. (Mostly when he’s trying to woo his college sweetheart, who, of course, hates death metal.) I thought that this show has some potential– it’s hilarious on quite a few levels. Negishi’s internal conflicts are funny enough, but his outbursts as Krauser put him over the top. He does remind me of a Ben Stiller-type character with a Marilyn Manson alter ego. His “friends” and cohorts are also hilarious, ranging from their manager who judges performances by how sexually aroused she gets to the drummer. The situations that they get into are fairly simple, but they manage to produce some nice results. For people who are jaded from all the unintentional comedy of a Sunrise anime, this is a good foul-mouthed antidote.
For an OVA, the animation quality from Studio 4C is uneven. While I understand that they are trying to mimic a manga-like style, the animation should be a lot better than this for an OVA. (Probably a good time to note that they follow the manga almost exactly, scene-by-scene.) I’m also not a big fan of this drawing style, and it reminds me too much of Initial D for some reason. I guess I would have preferred it if Studio 4C did a duo animation style kinda like Minami-ke/Bible Black and used this lightweight style whenever Negishi is “normal” but then toss it to some crazy ass CG work and pyrotechnics when Krauser is in the house. I think the Chinese guy who did the fireworks for the Olympics might be available.
And as for the music, well, that’s part of the fun… happy, happy love, love…
20 Responses to “thin slicing detroit metal city”
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A lot of awesome going on here. Crude and simple. I think even with the crappy animation quality, this is comedy gold.
Negiahi: “I can’t! Why do we have to do such a terrible thing to someone?”
Wada: “You were supposed to beat him down even more.”
“Capitalist Pig”: “It’s okay, I’m an emo…”
Fan1: “There it is! Krauser-san’s ‘Ten Rapes a Second’ shout! He’s real…”
Fan2: “Holy shit! Our performance summoned him from Hell!”
This show owns. You need to follow it instead of Macross, I think.
I disagree on the animation being bad. It appears to me they just went overboard on mimicking the manga. It’s as if Frank Miller directed an anime. I think the OP shows that they put some thought into the animation quality. It’s an early favorite for OP of the Year in my book.
Oh yes. As one who had listened a lot to these genres, I loved the comedic light shed on the bands and their fans.
Detroit Metal City? Obvious KISS reference is obvious . . .
Anyway, is this basically an anime version of Metalocalypse? If it is, I’ll be all over this shit.
It’s not as gory as Metalocalypse, and it doesn’t prattle on and on about nothing like Metalocalypse does when they’re trying too hard to be funny (i.e. the whole second season). Metalocalypse definitely has better music though.
Both are gold if you are a fan of metal, but not such a big fan that you get offended by parodies. Three thumbs up, even if you need to sever somebody else’s thumb to do it!
Umai Umai Umai~~~ gotta love the ED’s contrast with the OP great. XD
whoops I think it’s Amai not Umai :s lol
Probably shouldn’t admit this, but I found this jaw-droppingly hilarious, though it may lose shock value over time.
I really hope this gets made into a TV Series. Anyone know how many episodes the OVA is going to be?
Hilarious.
It’s hands down the funniest thing (and one of the most epic things) I’ve seen this year. Hopefully it can maintain that stride as it goes along.
And I agree with Shadowbreak that the contrast between the OP and ED shows how at best, Negishi will only be able to have a mutual coexistence with Krauser II. :P
Don’t know if I’d quite call it the Japanese Metalocalypse, but it certainly evokes the same feel. On the outside it’s gag humor at its most metal, but underneath there is a definite level of intelligence that is belied by the subject matter. Nowhere near as violent or comically over-the-top as Metalocalypse (somethng I think they’ve failed at for the second season), and with a wussy fish-out-of-water feel from the lead that completely torpedoes any further resemblance to Metalocalypse.
And the music isn’t quite as good as 1st season Metalocalypse, but it’s way better that the 2nd season crap so far.
As for how many eps, there have been three OVA released for it, with multiple 15-min eps per OVA. Anidb shows 8 episodes total, but I’m pretty sure there are more, as I’m pretty sure each OVA has got at least 3 eps, and the last I know has 4.
And that’s not even counting the live-action movie coming out later this month with the cameo by Gene Simmons as “Jack Ill Dark, Demon God of Rock”…
Have not met a person irl that I know who hasn’t enjoyed this as fully as I have yet, its just fantastic, ep 2 made me tear with laughter.
Well, y’all have convinced me enough to check it out.
this anime wins on so many accounts
I had thought that “Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” had crossed the line twice. Compared to “Detroit Metal City,” the former is practically Sesame Street.
Which is to say that “Detroit Metal City” is one of my favorite guilty pleasures that doesn’t involve scantily-clad females.
I agree, “Detroit Metal City†is one of my favorite guilty pleasures that doesn’t involve scantily-clad traps.
Oh, shit.
RAPE! RAPE! RAPE!
I saw the 3 OVA… that was hilarous and I’m disapointed there is only three…. I’m also desapointed that when I went to Japan this summer the DMC’s movie wasn’t out yet in the theatres….
I’d say something about your brokedness, rh, but the fact that I’m debating over which of the two responses below to use proves that I am at least as broken as you.
A) You can always hope that the band president is a post-op tranny.
B) Professor, I believe Negishi used to be a soft pop artist.
You people and your scantily-clad traps. Can’t you just enjoy the humor of a guy who hates Death Metal making a living off it, then finding he can’t shed the persona after-work so he mentions ‘rape’ to the would-be girlfriend?
Saw the movie this week. It kinda missed the point :/